Winning Hearts and Minds At The Barrel Of A Gun

While watching this video I was reminded of a Vietmanese freind of mine,who when asked which side he supported, stated neither, they both took turns killing us.

This history is repeating itself in Afghanistan. We come in level their village and destroy their crops then we "allow" them to help in it's reconstruction, of course if the Afghan villagers take us up on our generous offer then they become the targets of the Taliban. I wonder when asked which side he supports if an Afghan villager would say neither, they both take turns killing us.

While this video deals with the actions of the American military I use the term "we" because they are our allies and as such we are just as culpable for their actions as they are ours. Plus Canadian troops have leveled buildings and destroyed fruit trees and other crops in order to construct a road. The military wonders why the farmers are angry because after all they now have a nice new road to bring their now nonexistent crops to market. While we have replanted many fruit trees it typically takes years before they bear fruit. Oh well I guess they can always grow poppies.